HUGE shoutout to Sawtooth and his amazing Boise photo threads! His photography of Boise and his
attention to detail of the life, nature, people of Boise, and all the fun quirks that can be found throughout
the city are a big influence on my own photography.

This is my first photo thread, so I wanted to put a little extra work into it to make it look nice. Enjoy!

"Until entering this case I had never been in Boise. I had read of it, and knew that it was far away out West. I had pictured it to myself, but I never found an unfamiliar person or place that proved to be anything like my mental picture. Boise was approached from the east through hundreds of miles of dreary, dusty desert with no living thing in sight but gophers and sage-brush. During the trip one deliberates whether to keep the car-window tightly closed and die for want of air or raise it ever so little and be suffocated with the clouds of powdered alkali. I always did both, one after the other. Through the whole region of desert waste, a long strip of green wound and twisted its tortuous way in loops and zigzags across the desolate plain. This is the Snake River, named from the animal which Adam had in mind when he named Eve’s tempter. As we neared Boise the scene changed. The fields were fresh and green, the orchards were luxuriant, the town was resplendent with lawns and flowers, shrubs and trees; the houses were neat and up-to-date. The Snake River had been intersected with dikes, which irrigated the barren wilderness and made it a beautiful garden-spot. The landscape was most pleasing, and out beyond, a circle of mountains enclosed the little city; so that after the long, wearisome journey Boise seemed like a bright green gem in a setting of blue. It is the capital of the State, with attractive public and private buildings, and a good library...Boise had a pride in its town and people and culture, and could rightly be called the Athens of the sage-brush."

"Somewhere along the 1,700 mile sprint from SXSW and Austin, up through the Dust Bowl to the welcoming, gregarious arms of Boise, ID and its inaugural Treefort Festival, the book I was reading made mention of Parkinson’s Law. This law essentially says a task will swell in perceived importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. So what the hell does that have to do with a music festival in Boise? Well over the past week, my brain has been trying to figure out how a small group of people in Southern Idaho went from entertaining the idea of a new festival last fall to pulling off one of the best festivals I’ve ever had the pleasure to attend within a few quick months.

By some splendid strokes of luck, I’ve been able to attend a number of major festivals in nine countries. From the swarming sea of souls at Coachella to ten person audiences along the Danube in Budapest, I’ve had a fair range of festival experiences. I bring this up not to toot the Bragpipe, but rather to offer a résumé for evaluating Treefort. All said and done, the inaugural Treefort Festival in Boise offered an experience in the upper echelon of all this schmuck’s festival experiences. Alas, here are some thoughts on what made Treefort something I’ll be yapping about to any plausible grandchildren of mine."

Every mid-April, a wonderful event called the Beat Pete Scholarship Run is held, where racers run a 3-mile track along the Boise River Greenbelt in hopes of beating Boise State head football coach Chris Petersen. Coach Pete is considered one of the greatest College Football coaches of all-time. Not only is he one hell of a football coach, but he's deeply ingrained himself within the community, having donated huge sums of money to the university, hospitals and various causes and fundraisers throughout Boise, and he's all around a genuinely wonderful guy. In a College Football landscape that's so dominated by shadiness, corruption, scandals, and dirty behavior, he's one of the shining beacons of integrity that's left, and Boise is very lucky to have him.

"Lace up your shoes and put your game face on! The Beat Coach Pete Scholarship Run/Walk is a great way to do your part to help Boise State students. The race will start on campus and run along the beautiful Boise City Greenbelt. The featured racer is Coach Pete of the Boise State football team. It's your chance to see if you can indeed "Beat Pete." And if you Beat Pete, you'll receive a year's worth of bragging rights! All finishers and supporters can join us for a fun-filled finish-line bash sponsored by Recreation Services and our premier sponsors. "

Nice set! Is it just me or does the blue turf hurt anyone else's eyes while watching a Boise St. game on tv?

nah.

it's just the color blue. my eyes don't hurt after watching the U.S. Open Tennis Championships played on blue courts, or the Olympics gymnastics meet on a blue mat, or swimming and diving in a blue pool.

anyway, very nice set of pics there, 'airport.

and as an aside, i didn't beat coach pete this year. apparently, my couch isn't fast enough. who knew?

__________________

I've been inducted by aliens.
I'm in their Hall of Fame because of all of the great ideas they found up my ass.

Your pictures beautifully capture that magical Boise atmosphere which has made me fall in love with your city. I especially love the floral shots, which truly seem to represent the vibrance of Boise. Looking through this thread has caused me to anticipate my return with even greater excitement!

Boise looks beautiful. It's really great to see the dramatic changes that have taken place here in the past decade to transform it into a vibrant regional metropolis.

It is weird though, and I don't mean this in a negative way at all, but everytime I see a skyline shot or panorama of the city it doesn't look like it has changed at all for twenty years. Maybe it's just because my untrained eye focuses in on that tallest building.

Excellent work in capturing the diversity of Boise and including nature photos too. I've said before in some of my photo threads that nature is just as much a part of Boise as the urbanity is, maybe even more after you have seen a few deer running through downtown at 6am. All of this mixed together creates a city that is very satisfying and rewarding to photograph.

Your photos are beautiful.

Thanks for the shout out

__________________
🌲Keep Idaho Green🌲Love me or hate me, both are in my favor. If you love me, I'll always be in your heart. If you hate me, I'll always be in your mind.
William Shakespeare

It is weird though, and I don't mean this in a negative way at all, but everytime I see a skyline shot or panorama of the city it doesn't look like it has changed at all for twenty years. Maybe it's just because my untrained eye focuses in on that tallest building.

it's funny you should say that.

i worked in downtown chicago for 10 years, and it seemed like every summer when driving down lake shore drive and michigan avenue, there was a new tower (or towers) under construction.

in the last 15 years of living in boise, i felt as you do, that it hadn't changed much.

but then when i drive down front street, i realize almost every building along front street was built in the last 8 years. the grove hotel, the hampton, the courthouse, the capital condos, the water center, the aspen are all recent developments.

the east side of downtown along front and myrtle was a wasteland 10 years ago, but it's beginning to change dramatically. i think the next step in boise's evolution will be on the west side of downtown, where there's a ton of empty lots just begging for development.

let's hope so.

__________________

I've been inducted by aliens.
I'm in their Hall of Fame because of all of the great ideas they found up my ass.